the salton sea

saturday was a day i'd been waiting for for quite some time. tim and i got to head out to the salton sea and explore what basically is a modern day ghost town. the whole southeast side of the lake was once a mecca for the hollywood elite and was supposed to be an alternative to vegas as the next spot to build multi-million dollar vacation homes, casinos and grand hotels. but something happened and marinas capable of handling 30 consecutive boat launches were abandoned and today, the lake and communities stand eerily quiet and deserted; an apocalyptical view of the lake, with lovecraftian images and enough strangeness to keep you looking over your shoulder in broad daylight. enjoy the bizarre and odd photos from the visit here.

salton sea, ca

accelerade review

i too, was tapped by the accelerade folks to give their sports drink and new accel gel flavor a try. accelerade has been in the news quite a bit lately as they try to promote the science behind protein in sports drinks as a catalyst for quicker fuel replenishment and muscle repair, while the other sports drinks run studies to show that there is no benefit to protein in endurance sports drinks.

for a review of accelerade's clams, have a gander here.

i jumped into the testing of the acclerade drink as soon as i received my sample, since my case of gatorade endurance had just run out and the cytomax in the cupboard was getting clumpy from disuse. if you remember a couple weeks back, the temps here in california were quite high, and i went out for a toasty run in the 109 degree afternoon heat. this was my first test of the product. the instructions state that the powder is to be mixed with cold water. my initial sip of the drink gave me a start, as it was a lemony, creamy, warm fluid...and had a somewhat odd smell to it. i was able to stomach the drink, but with my fuelbelt bottles getting cooked, the flavor was less than what i had hoped for. on the plus side, the body held up incredibly well in the 109 degree furnace.

i continued to use the product on all runs over eight miles and when the drink stays relatively cool, the flavor was welcome and the creamy taste/texture i became quickly accustomed to. i put the drink to the real test on a tough 18 miler through one of the local wilderness parks and it's challenging hills. the weather cooperated this time and didn't cook the drink. to be honest, i don't think i've ever worked that hard and felt that good afterward. i went through the entire 18 never feeling like i was low on energy and had plenty of juice at the end. a result of the accelerade? i can't say for sure, but if it was one of the key ingredients, then they may be the ones to tempt me away from the gatorade standard.

the kind folks at accelerade also sent along the new citrus orange accel gel to try out. i'll be kind and leave it at this; i tried one gel, nearly gagged and will not try the other. so overall, i'm on the fence with the accelerade products. i was pleased with the drink mix and may try it again after this next race, but i'll pass on the gels.

the new completerunning.com

folks, in case you haven't heard the very groovy news, completerunning.com has re-launched with a brand new format and focus. mark, aaron and jeanne have overhauled the site to bring you the best in running and fitness related articles, tips and motivation. they've collected a sweet group of bloggers and authors that you're mostly already acquainted with and will be delivering daily news and articles. stop by the site, bookmark it and add it to your favorite feed reader. there's good things happening there, and YOU should be a part of it!

of rbf'ers, training and lather

on a training note, things have been going smashingly.

i had an opportunity to hook up with darrell and nattie a couple weeks ago and run a great loop of back bay. it was our first time meeting nattie and she rocks more than we could have guessed. can't wait to run more with her in familiar stomping grounds. coach has been throwing some decent mileage and tougher speed workouts my way in preparation for robin hood.

i knocked out a really tough 20 miler through the aliso creek wilderness park last week and have been tackling workouts like 3x2 mile intervals and 15x400m intervals, all at a pace reminiscent of training for my boston qualifier. wait a second, didn't i say that i was going to just treat the race as a long training run? hmmm...maybe my race day goals should be a little more serious if i'm hammering away at an anticipated 7:00-7:30 marathon pace. i'll just have to make that call on race day.

yesterday, smsmh and i had the distinct pleasure of having dave & meredith from ohio over for dinner. we first met up with them in boston a couple days before the race, and since they were in town vacationing, we decided to have them over for dinner to sample some of smsmh's world famous lasagna. again, we had a blast and meredith had us rolling with her horror story of the flight from columbus to la. it was great to see you guys again. i'll be wearing my ohio state shirt every saturday!

finally, i don't think people understand what i mean when i say that i'm a leaky runner. darrell? can you help me out here? when i say i leak, i mean there is no difference between what i look like after a swim and a run. and for your friday "ewww" factor, i provide you with photographic proof. just note that the lather you're seeing is on a light day and after most of it had faded. and NO, it is NOT from detergent. it is specifically caused by copious amounts of fluid from the epocrine sweat glands and lots of friction.

update on the girls

well, name of the game now is hurry up and wait.

smsmh and i had our home study last monday and it went very well. the timing was perfect, too. the previous week our smoke alarm had gone wonky and was beeping in the middle of the night. unfortunately, the last time we painted, the cover got painted and i couldn't get it off to shut the thing up. so, screwdriver and hammer produced a mass of broken plastic and dangling wires. smsmh had asked me to replace all the smoke detectors the sunday before the visit. as the social worker toured the house, she paused under the detector, reached up and pushed the test button and smiled as the alarm went off. smsmh and i looked at each other with that "dodged a bullet" look and continued with the tour.

we completed the whole interview process and got our live scan done the following day at the local sheriff's station. the whole digital fingerprinting process is pretty cool from a geek perspective. so, now we're done with the home study and we're assuming that they're performing a detail background check.

but the next wrinkle in the fabric is that the monitor for visitation has changed and is wanting to have one large group visitation with all the family members rather than several small ones. bad idea on so many levels, from the fact that the family members will tear each other apart to each family member fighting for time with the girls. how can smsmh and i be expected to develop a 'relationship' with the girls with 10 other people all vying for the girls time? bleh.

the whole thing is a crazy process, one filled with poor communication, fuzzy requirements and lots of hurry up and wait.

joy and sorrow

first off, thanks to everyone for your support. the comments, emails, phonecalls...you guys have been great and so supportive of smsmh and i as we ride this rollercoaster. so, when we first began pursing having the girls placed with us, we were informed that because there wasn't a pre-existing relationship with the girls, we were out of luck and would be considered by the court, just another 'foster family'. with that knowledge, smsmh began reaching out to all of her contacts with social services (in our county - the girls are in a different county). we even contacted a juvenile attorney to find out our options and whether we could get the court to grant an exception. but everything we were being told made it seem as if it was somewhat hopeless. we were even told by the attorney to keep our hopes higher than our expectations. in addition, a law was recently passed that allows for a foster family that has had children for four months or longer to petition for adoption, which would push us even further out of the running.

so, regardless of the situation, we got the case worker to clear us to join a family member during their visit with the girls on this past wednesday. some good news was had from some of smsmh's contacts, saying that being granted the opportunity to meet the girls was a good sign. a sign of what, we weren't sure, but anything good is...um...good. so, tuesday night we're going through the mail and we see something from social services. it's a packet with information on how to prepare your home for foster children and another packet on compensation programs from the state. huh? what? we were surprised to be receiving this information, but we didn't read anything into it, nor did we discount it.

then, wednesday morning, as we're getting ready for the 2 hour drive to go visit the girls, we get a call from social services, specifically referencing the girl's case and they're wanting to schedule the home study...the inspection of the house prior to the court granting a placement. so, we're set for social services to come MONDAY to check out our place and okay it. MONDAY, folks.

so, with that joy in our hearts, we head off to the mountains to see the girls. there's some family drama before the visit starts, but i'll leave that out, since it isn't appropriate for the public. but all of that fades when we walk into the room with the girls. they're older than the pictures we've seen. and, well, they're adorable. laughing, smiling, full of life, happy to see the family member and equally excited to meet some new people.

we spend some time being silly and then break out the 'dora the explorer' version of candyland that smsmh had brought along and play a quick game. the oldest really gets into it, calling out everyone's turn. after the game, we talk about favorite things, birthday wishes, fun kids stuff. the girls want some piggie back and horsey rides, so i go to town toting the two of them around on my back. the oldest starts singing, "go horsey, go horsey, it's your birthday!" and we all bust up laughing.

a bit later we got into singing some songs (with made up words by the youngest, of course) and i got us all crying with laughter as i sang nonsense at the top of my lungs. the girls were alive, happy and healthy, and that caused us much joy. at the same time, just before it was time to go, the youngest pulled the oldest's hair and the oldest started crying. she went to the family member for a hug, but when she looked at smsmh and i, the look in her eyes was not one of pain, but of "i need to be loved". and that broke our hearts. yes, the girls are giggling, squealing bundles of energy, but inside you can feel the hurt they're going through. and the sooner we can shower them with that love and dedication, the better. so, keep us in your prayers.

ch-ch-ch-changes

the heat broke this week. i can't begin to tell you what a blessing that has been. ugh...running in that triple digit heat along with the high humidity was just murder, not only on my body, but on my gear. salt may be a preserving agent, but not when it comes to electronics and running shoes. oh boy.

so, along with the change in the weather, it seemed that my training took a change for the better, too. speed workouts had been really rough the last few months and i'd finish them feeling spent and with none of that powerful afterglow that i'd come to love. just exhaustion and pain. and the long runs had been tough, too. it seemed every week was an exercise in just getting through the workout, with the body wanting to quit a couple miles before we were done. but this past week...heaven. training bliss.

the coach threw a great track session at me with some long, fast intervals which i finished strong and felt invincible. and then, on saturday, i was able to hit aliso creek/wood canyon wilderness park with darrell and tear through 18 miles of tough trails and hills as if it was a jog around the block. ah...it feels good to be back.

but back for what purpose, you may ask. why, if you're scaling back on your race calendar and doing tri's, would long intervals and 18 mile runs be the training regimen? well, i've got news, folks.

work came through again and they're sending me over to jolly ole england to perform some training for our congleton office. they typically send me every other year, and last time around, when i ran the london half marathon, i promised myself i'd find a full race the next time i was over there. you know, knock out the european continent from my "marathon on each continent" list. so, i've got my tickets, flying out of lax on september 7th and running the robin hood marathon in nottingham on september 10th with one of the first, original btt bloggers, karin (people, check out the invite that she and andy put together for the rbf - awesome).

so, this will make for continent number three and an international rbf meet up! woohoo!

so, the last change that i wanted to mention, i saved for last for a reason. i sorta wanted to bury this bit of news, hoping that mostly dedicated readers would stick around for this. smsmh and i are undertaking a huge change for our lives. we were recently notified that the two daughters, 2 and 5 year old girls, of an unrelated, extended family member were taken from an allegedly abusive situation by child protective services and placed with a foster family. now, smsmh and i don't have an existing relationship with the girls, but we felt compelled to get involved. we are currently seeking to have social services place the girls with us, either for the short term while the court determines their long term placement, or for adoption, should the opportunity arise. please keep us in your prayers as we go through what has shown itself to be an emotional roller coaster over the past few weeks.

the latest news is that we have been cleared to join a family member during her visitation and we'll be meeting the girls for the first time this coming wednesday. so, keep us in your thoughts and prayers this week. thanks!